Avalanche Forecast

Poor - Due to the number and quality of field observations

The ridge of high pressure is forecast to remain over the province giving cold and clear conditions for Sunday. Some cloud may move into the region on Sunday night as a low pressure system slides down the coast from Alaska. Clear and cold returning for Monday and Tuesday, but cold Northerly outflow winds should end on Sunday.

Rapid cooling has reduced the likelihood of triggering avalanches this weekend. A size 2 slab avalanche was observed off the east side of Joffre Peak in the Duffy Lake area on Wednesday morning. This slide triggered several loose wet sluffs lower on the slope that ran quite far. The observer also reported several older crowns from alpine terrain that probably release overnight or early that morning. Please let us know what you're seeing out there at [email protected].

There are few actual observations from the region to start the season. This is based mostly off weather station data and the weather forecast. Most areas experienced heavy rain this week up to 2000 m, or even higher. Higher elevations may have continued to see wet snow accumulate, and possibly a lot of it. Rapid cooling early on Friday has probably left a new rain crust near the surface, but in some areas it's already buried by 10-15 cm of light snow. A weak layer of facetted snow on a crust may be lurking deeper in the snowpack. However, it's possible this weakness was 'flushed' out with the recent heavy precipitation. There's limited recent info on this weakness so I recommend digging to confirm the existence of the layer, its depth, and to test its strength.